Despite years of ill health, Zsa Zsa Gabor’s death came as a “big surprise” to her husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt.

“It went fast,” an emotional von Anhalt told reporters Monday outside the couple’s Bel-Air estate. He said he called an ambulance Sunday after his wife’s blood pressure began to fall. As he waited for help to arrive, a paramedic gave him instructions over the phone on performing CPR.

“(They) explained to me exactly what to do … and I did what he said,” von Anhalt said.

But Gabor died a short time later.

“She was slowly slipping away, peacefully, without pain. And it was just the time for her to go. She wanted to go,” he said.

She had been hospitalized repeatedly since breaking her hip in 2010 after suffering a fall.

Before the hip injury, Gabor was already using a wheelchair after being partly paralyzed in a 2002 car accident. She had also suffered a stroke in 2005, and most of her right leg was amputated in 2011 because of gangrene.

One day after her death, von Anhalt paid tribute to his late wife, standing next to a large photo of the Hollywood siren in her prime, decked in jewels.

“She was a tough cookie, but she was very fair. Very fair to everybody,” von Anhalt recalled.

He described their relationship in candid terms.

“I can tell you right now that it was a big love affair. She loved me dearly and I loved Hollywood. And people ask me, did I love my wife? I said, ‘We’ve been very good friends, but love has to grow.’ And after a couple of years I fell very much in love with my wife,” von Anhalt said.

It was a tranquil scene Monday outside the star’s home, which was adorned with a few Christmas lights and decorations. Several staff members could be seen coming and going.

One woman, who did not give her name, said she had worked at the home for 10 years and was “very sad” about Gabor’s passing. “It’s like losing a mother,” she said.

The Hollywood star’s home was sold to a private investor in 2013 for a reported $11 million.

As part of the real estate deal, the ailing actress and her husband were allowed to remain in the house.

Despite media reports saying otherwise, von Anhalt explained Monday that per the real estate agreement, he is not required to immediately vacate the premises.

“I can stay here until September 2019, plus 120 days … but I decided last night it’s very tough for me to be alone in a big house like that,” he said.

When asked about his decision to keep Gabor at home instead of in a care facility, von Anhalt insisted he did what he thought was best.

“I was criticized from her family … but I said to myself, ‘This is the right way to do it.’ And I do it. I don’t listen to anybody. And that’s how she made it that long. If I would have put her in a home in 2002, she would be gone long ago,” von Anhalt stated.

Gabor was born on Feb. 6, 1917, in Budapest.

Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor; Eva starred in the popular 1960s television series “Green Acres.”

With no hit TV shows or blockbuster films on her resume, Zsa Zsa made headlines as much for her relationships as she did for her acting.

She married at least eight times, including to hotelier Conrad Hilton, with whom she had one child.

Her longest marriage was to von Anhalt, who was 26 years her junior.

Born Hans Georg Robert Lichtenberg in Rhineland, Germany in 1943, the entrepreneur changed his name to Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt after paying Princess Marie-Auguste of Anhalt to adopt him, according to media reports.

He exchanged vows with Gabor in 1986, and they remained together until her death.

“I loved my wife dearly. I’ll tell you that,” von Anhalt said Monday. He choked up as he added, “I have to bury my wife, which is probably the toughest thing I have to do … Because there’s nobody left. The whole family is gone. She was the last one.”

Funeral arrangements are pending, von Anhalt said, but he hopes to have the service at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

“My wife loved the red carpet. So I think we make (the service) more public than rather in a private group,” he said. “She will not be forgotten because she loved Hollywood.”